Royal nanny would’ve been a nun

Tonight / 26 March 2014, 1:54pm

Daily Mail

Britain's Prince William carries his son Prince George as they arrive for his son's christening at St James's Palace in London October 23, 2013. REUTERS/John Stillwell/pool (BRITAIN - Tags: ROYALS ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY)

PRINCE George’s (pictured) new Spanish nanny would have become a nun if she had not ended up pursuing her passion for looking after children, say friends.

Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo’s austere lifestyle made her the perfect candidate to become a servant of God, they said.

Single Borrallo, 43, a graduate of the prestigious nanny school Norland College, is said to have been nicknamed Santa – Spanish for saint – by those closest to her when she was a youngster.

Locals in her home city of Palencia in northern Spain said they would not have been surprised if Maria Teresa had chosen a church job like her brother Luis, ordained a deacon in 2011.

One said: “We all thought she’d end up becoming a nun because she was such a different girl to the rest. She hardly had any friends and didn’t show any interest in boys.”

Family hairdresser Antonio Robledo told Spanish daily El Mundo: “She is very special and shy and I’ve never known her to have had a boyfriend. Above all, she’s a good person.”

The new royal nanny was born in Madrid, but moved to Palencia as a child. She is the second eldest of four children. She attended church regularly with the rest of her family as she was growing up.

A neighbour at the spacious city centre flat where her mother Maria Teresa still lives gave her private lessons in chemistry, physics and maths, with which she is said to have struggled at school.

She left Spain for the UK more than 20 years ago after graduating with a degree in teaching, but returns to Palencia to see her family whenever she gets a chance.

One of her brothers, Ignacio, teaches viola and violin to private students in the area .

He boasts in an online CV that he is one of the most sought-out violin and viola teachers in Spain’s Castile and Leon region, with more than 20 years of experience. Her youngest brother Pablo, a teacher, lives and works in the south of France.

Maria Teresa’s parents’ 1967 wedding at a prestigious Roman Catholic school in Madrid received a mention in the society pages of Spain’s royalist Right-wing daily newspaper, ABC.

Her retired housewife mom reportedly uses her free time to teach handicapped children. Speaking on Friday, she said: “I am very proud of my daughter, that’s all I can say.”